Can the Scouts save young men?

There is an organization dedicated to addressing the “boy problem.” It’s in over 100 countries and already works with tens of millions of children, mainly boys and teenagers. It promotes positive values like bravery and loyalty. It’s focused on outdoor activities, not sitting in front of screens. It models positive masculinity by actively engaging parents, particularly dads, in leadership roles. It’s “Scouts”- previously the “Boy Scouts”. 

Robert Putnam, the author of Bowling Alone, has a fascinating interview in the NY Times where he talks about the history of the Boy Scouts. The original Boy Scout organization was founded in England by Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell in the early 1900’s and then brought over to the US by W.D. Boyce, an American newspaperman and entrepreneur. But the scouts movement was responding to some of the same challenges we see today.

About 125 years ago, what was called the “boy problem” was a big problem. It was a problem of boys who were getting in trouble and raising trouble for the country as a whole. And to address that problem, a burst of new associations directed at boys were invented. Big Brothers, and the organization called Boys Clubs, now called Boys and Girls Clubs, it started in 1906. And Boy Scouts. Now, what do I infer from that? This goes back to my understanding of why we would look at that period, the progressive era. Folks in that era were concerned about the same problem we are now. That is, loner males, boys especially, were getting in trouble and causing the country trouble. And nowadays it’s exactly those loner males, young loner males who are drawn to white nationalism and violence. So if I were talking to the president, either president, and said: How do we solve this problem of white nationalism and violence and terrorism in America? We have to begin early in life, and that means thinking of new ways — not the Boy Scouts or whatever. 

Putnam’s conclusion is that we need new types of civic organizations for young men. He implies that the old models will no longer work. But there’s an argument that revitalizing an established brand and organization with deep roots and broad reach may be a more effective way to have an impact.

A recent article in the World Economic Forum written by the World Organization of the Scout Movement makes a version of this argument in response to the discussion over the Netflix show Adolescence.

If we want a future where boys don’t have to choose between silence and violence, we must invest in educational programmes that give them purpose, a sense of community, challenge harmful norms and enable them to thrive alongside girls.

Scouting is, of course, not the only solution — but it’s one we have currently and it works. And one the world needs now more than ever to build young people ready for life.

Of course, the organization has had some serious issues. The American branch had to settle over $2B in claims brought by 82,000 men that it allowed them to be sexually abused by older men while participating in the program as boys. The organization went bankrupt as a result. The organization once had a policy to specifically exclude gay scouts and troop leaders.   The membership declined from 6.5M in the US to closer to 1M. There are a variety of reasons why Boy Scouts of America changed its name to Scouts of America but partially it needed to expand its appeal. The organization now allows girls to enter, and gay scouts. It’s trying to evolve for a modern age. It even got some criticism from the far-right for “going woke.

It remains to be seen if Scouting America and World Scouting can continue to grow and fill the clear need for the type of engagement that young men need. Scouting America reporting a slight uptick in membership in the past year after the rebrand, good news after years of membership declines. There’s a vicious cycle that is already happening where young men who are currently fathers become less connected and engaged, which means they play even less of a role in teaching their sons, which means those sons grow up to be less engaged fathers themselves. Maybe Scouts and organizations like it can be be a positive corrective force. We will continue to explore the civic engagement space, to lift up older examples that could be impactful or new models that could address the needs of young men.